29/06/2023
"The European Capital of Culture 2025 Nova Gorica - Gorizia has so far demonstrated a serious commitment to the project and significant advancement," European Commission announced yesterday. The European Capital of Culture 2025 Nova Gorica - Gorizia team (GO! 2025 and EGTC GO), together with the two mayors Samo Turel and Rodolfo Ziberna, reported on May 16 this year to the international commission of experts on the development of the project, and now the commission has published an encouraging report. The report acknowledges the important steps made in the delivery of the programme and congratulates the European Capital of Culture team for having defined a clear tasks distribution and workflow, simplifying the complex management of a cross-border ECoC. It also noted that it appreciated the commitment in signing project contracts with both public institutions and non-governmental organisations. The experts, most of whom have experience in different aspects of organising European Capitals of Culture, also felt that progress had been made in the area of information and involvement of the local environment, highlighting in particular the work of the Xcenter, the Centre for Creative Practises in Nova Gorica. The European Commission recognizes the progress made in international networking, through recruitment of specialised personnel and closer connections with the ECoC and some EU cultural networks. Particularly appreciated is also the endeavour to benefit from the experience of previous ECoC. The report calls on the mayors of Nova Gorica and Gorizia to intensify negotiations in order to obtain the additional state funding needed to implement the programme in the application book. Dr Asta Vrečko, Minister of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia, has already reacted to yesterday's European Commission report: "We're pleased that the European Capital of Culture project, for which we allocated 10 million euros last year immediately after its arrival at the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia, is progressing so well. The European Commission's partial report concludes that the cross-border project is well designed, and our greatest appreciation and thanks go to all those who have been involved in the preparation of the project. I wish you continued success and believe that 2025 will be a very special year in Nova Gorica and Gorizia." Commenting on the positive report, Gorazd Božič, Director of GO! 2025, said, "We are facing a crucial year of intensive preparations for 2025, so such a positive assessment by experienced European experts from outside is justified and welcome. It confirms our good and dedicated work of the last year and the achievement that we were able to clearly divide, take over and start implementing all the tasks for the high-quality implementation of the first cross-border European Capital of Culture under my leadership of GO! 2025. Mayor of Nova Gorica Samo Turel: "I would like to thank the expert group for the valuable time they took to read and present the report of the public institute GO! 2025, and especially for the six recommendations for further action they wrote in this interim report. These recommendations will enable us to prepare really well for the final evaluation to be carried out in November 2024, so that it will be both positive and financially rewarding. I am particularly pleased with the content part of the project progress, which also reflects the good programme of the Capital of Culture Bid Book." The Mayor of Gorizia, Rodolfo Ziberna, is satisfied with the report of the European Commission, adding that we are facing a great challenge. On behalf of the two mayors, he assured that the projects will be interesting and innovative and will be with us long after the end of the capital. The commission sees the completion of the renovation works in the area of Europe Square as an important message to other European cities divided by borders, as it is this area that has the symbolic and communicative power of culture to overcome historical divisions. Romina Kocina, director of EGTC GO, stated that "the final preparations for the construction works on Europe Square are progressing according to schedule" and she remains optimistic. She shares the satisfaction of the two mayors on the findings of the evaluation commission that there is a positive cooperation between the two cities as well as between the two entities (GO! 2025 and EGTC GO), which have managed to find a balance in their challenging cross-border work. The report encourages the entire team to pay special attention to the EPIC programme - the European Platform for 20th Century Interpretation. The experts conclude the report with an encouraging assessment of the cross-border team's commitment to enhance the "no-border narrative” and encourage Nova Gorica and Gorica 2025 to become a test-bed and model for other border cities in Europe and worldwide.
